respite

The station's meteorologist had predicted that the bad weather would continue throughout the week without respite.

"Welcome to the Garden for Good, where 30 inmatestrained as Kansas Master Gardenersfind respite from the harsh realities of life behind bars."  From an article in the Kiowa County Signal (Greensburg, Kansas), August 14, 2013

Subscribe

Get the Word of the Day direct to your inbox  subscribe today!

Did You Know?

Originally, beginning in the late 13th century, a respite was a delay or extension asked for or granted for a specific reasonto give someone time to deliberate on a proposal, for example. Such a respite offered an opportunity for the kind of consideration inherent in the word's etymology. "Respite" traces from the Latin term "respectus," which comes from a verb meaning, both literally and figuratively, "to turn around to look at" or "to regard." By the 14th century, we had granted "respite" the sense we use most often today"a welcome break."

Test Your Memory: What is the meaning of "miscible," our Word of the Day from August 15? The answer is